As you'll see, this one is split up into a few different sections to show off different parts of the story.

 
After their big battle with the bats and rats in Degrassi, John and Sherri enjoyed a nice relaxing day in Ninja Village. They woke up to a hot meal and to the ninja kids playing. Sherri offered to teach the kids some moves while John worked on building their house.

 
As John hammered away, the old man walked up to him.

"Coming along," the old man commented.

"Yes I am surprised; we've been keeping so busy on missions that we rarely get a chance to work on it," John said.

"Hmmm then perhaps you don't want to be bothered with the worrying news," the old man said.

"Worrying?" John questioned.

"Yes, rumor has it that your friend Fumbles is missing," the old man stated.

"Oh and when was the last time he was seen?" John asked.

John continued to work on the house as they talked.

"We are unsure; that is why we need your help," the old man told John.

"How soon do you want we go?" John asked.

"Soon as possible and take the prankster brothers with you; you may need them."

John stopped what he was doing and walked over to a clearing where Sherri was training a group of 10 kids.

"You want the good news or bad news first?" John asked Sherri.

"What's up?" Sherri asked.

"We got a mission. Fumbles has been missing and people are worried," John told her.

"Guess this will have to wait," Sherri said as she turned towards the kids.

They went see the ninja council. As they walked into the council's hut, the council of 4 sat silently at the table. One of them finally spoke as team Blackeagle got to the table to sit.

"Greetings," one of the men said. "We have not heard from our good friend Fumbles and his clan has not either."

"You 2 being our best warriors, and having known Fumbles, are our best hope at finding him," another council member added.

"Any indication of where he might be?" John asked.

"We got word from Becky. She is in Seaside Town and has personalty suggested your assistance," the council said.

"We will be happy to go to Seaside Town." Sherri said. "Anything for Fumblies and Becky."

-------

Let's start with a recap, shall we?

Today's story (set later in the day) began with the end of yesterday's story. You see, friends, that's when Becky Joy and others were ran out of the Maniac Mansion. After regrouping, they went their separate ways at some point. Becky made her way around town, taking care of her tasks and chores and generally having fun and getting back to her own adventurous self.

Spaghettigirl, of course, had to go do planning. Lots and lots of planning. It was kind of her thing. She would sometimes spend so much time planning for an event that the event would come and go and she would just be finishing up her first draft of her plans.

Naturally, the commotion around the mansion caught her attention, so that Becky Joy, she just skipped right over there, boy oh boy!

Happy and joyful was she, so she skipped happily and joyfully up to the group of adventurers surrounding the force field, with some of them studying the field and others wailing on it.

"What's going on?" Becky asked happily in the middle of the crowd but no one seemed to notice her question. So she went up and tapped someone on a shoulder. "I'm Becky!"

"Really?" the other girl answered, turning around. Both girls were redheads, but this new girl's was brighter and, well, redder. Both redheads had on leather tops though Becky's looked new and shiny while the other girl's was clearly a hand-me-down, slightly turn, very well used, faded and a bit too tight. Becky's was simply tight fitting, worn along with a seal-skin skirt.

"I'm Tomato," the other girl answered. "I thought you needed a codename to adventure." By contrast, Tomato had old tired looking sweatpants on, holes and everything.

"I do!" Becky answered, clapping happily. "It's my real name! Hi!"

"Hello," Tomato answered. "That's probably cheating, but I guess it's pretty clever. I like it."

"Thanks!" Becky giggled.

"I like your giggle," Tomato added. "You seem so much nicer than the other people here."

"Thanks again!" Becky giggled again despite herself. "So what's up with that weird lookin' force field thingie?"

"I'm still figuring that out," Tomato added. "But I can tell you the Council wants us to get past it to deal with those Somber Six weirdos."

As the pair talked there is a commotion a short ways down the road as one of the Seaside Guard start yelling at someone. As the yelling got louder, a nearby goblin dock worker ran by yelling about a robe wearing armored half-orc demanding to speak with the Seaside Council.

"Do you know who I am?" Demanded a voice that if heard over the guard would be familiar to Becky at least. "Or are you a new guy?"

Becky turned and ran, taking a surprised and confused Tomato by the hand. "There he is! We found him!!"

"Found who?!" Tomato asked, wondering if she'd come into contact with an insane woman. (Possibly not for the first time.)

"Sir Fumblies!" Becky Joy called out, trying to track down the half-orc.

Sir Fumblies turned to the sound of Becky's voice and smiled to the belligerent guard. "I am going to assume you are new to the guard and let this go as misunderstanding."

With that, he turned and walked toward Becky with a slight shake of his head. As soon as he got close enough he called out to her. "So Becky that new guard wouldn't let me into to see the Seaside Council. Maybe you can tell me what is going on up at the Mansion."

"I don't think he's a guard," Becky said.

"Maybe he's crazy," Tomato suggested, nervously looking at Fumblies and his backup which consisted of two Brutes, a trio of vikings, a panda monk, several young ninjas, and a couple random Knob Goblins. The rest of the Fumblies Command were presumably with General Scaros and Princess Goblin in the Knob. "There's a lot of strange people here. I saw one guy yelling at a roof earlier."

"Okay then. I was told there was trouble at the Mansion," Fumblies commented and then turned to introduce himself to Tomato. "I am Sir Fumblies of the Blood Clan."

"Hey," Tomato responded while Becky hugged random companions of Fumblies, most of which didn't seem happy to be hugged. Tomato continued. "Yeah. Council says we have to get past the force field and deal with whatever is inside of it. Including lots of rats and bats. Apparently, they're keeping all kinds of people locked tight behind the force field and starting all kinds of trouble. Or maybe they're minding their own business. I just know the Council wants them out of town."

"Who is supposed to be back there?" asked a less than informed Fumblies.

"Scary Somber Six!" Becky answered. "We don't know how many of them there are. Maybe six, though."

"Baron von Ratsworth, the Boss Bat, and Lord Spookyraven!" Tomato answered, proud to know at least the basic facts.

"He was just revived!" Becky pointed out, frowning and moping over it. "We tried to stop him but it didn't work."

"Really?" Tomato asked. "Wow, I heard rumors, but I didn't know that."

"They're true!" Becky answered. She stamped her foot in frustration. "And it's no fair! We almost stopped it, too!"

"Oh, then is it also true that the next member of the Somber Six is going to be..." Tomato started to say dramatically, only to be interrupted.

"Are Bones or Kwadlin involved in this?" Fumblies growled out as he ran a calming hand over the hilt of his crystal sword. He had some unfinished business with both of them.

Tomato just stared and so Becky answered. "For once, nope, I don't think so! I don't know what they'd have do with rats or bats. Well.. maybe zombie bats and zombie rats that are also skeletons!"

Fumblies just nodded as he reflected on the situation. "Any idea what is causing that force field you mentioned?"

Tomato shivered. "Lord Spookyraven?"

 
"Hmmm..." Becky paused to think. "Sir Fumblies?"

"Yes Becky?"

"Hmm..." Becky snapped her fingers. "It was you and it's a trick question, right? Like a test? No?"

Fumblies just shook his head no. As he did he had a thought. "Who else is working on trying to get into the Manor?"

Tomato shrugged. "We're looking around and trying to figure that out."

"Well I am here with part of the forces I could find at the Blood Clan Outpost." Fumblies commented. "I need to talk with the Seaside Guard to see who from the Blood Clan is helping keep the peace."

"I'll go with!" Becky offered helpfully. Then she excitedly pointed towards the town entry. "Hey, look, Fumblies, it's our friends! Buddies yay!"

Fumblies looked over and saw some familiar faces approaching.

-------

Flashing back to earlier in the day. . .

After the council of 4 ninjas had told Blackeagle that Fumblies had been missing for a while, and that Becky had supposedly recommended them to help find him, Sherri had answered them and said, "We will be happy to go to Seaside Town. Anything for Fumbles and Becky."

They set off on horseback, riding to the north of Ninja Village.

The ride was kinda boring mixed with conversation. Then they turned to the east. As they traveled further east, they saw something odd in the distance. It drew them closer for a look.

"Ah, is that what I think it is?" Sherri asked.

John laughed. "A clown, well, a rock shaped like a clown. I'll be darned."

"Let's take a closer look."

As they got closer, suddenly they found themselves surrounded by clowns.

"Something tells me we're not in some Stephen King movie," John said as the clowns moved closer.

Blackeagle tried moving through them but found themselves surrounded.

"Ok, looks like we're gonna have to fight our way out of this one," John told Sherri.

They dismounted the horses and presumed to fighting. One by one, the clowns hit the ground. Oddly enough, they keep coming - more and more. With their staffs, they whacked the clowns like baseballs and home runs. Once they had an opening, they jumped back on their horses and rode off as fast as they could.

"That was close," John said.

"No that was a nightmare," Sherri replied.

It took them a bit longer to get to Seaside then expected. Their clown delay cost them time. Finally they arrived to see a crowd gathered at an old mansion.

"Wonder what that's all about?" Sherri asked.

"I don't know but let's check it out," John said.

"You sure that's a good idea? Remember last time we got curious about something," Sherri reminded him.

"Yes the nightmarish clowns. How can I forget?"

They rode in for a closer look. As they dismounted their horses, they saw two familiar faces in the crowd. Becky Joy, excited as always, rushed over to greet them with Sir Fumblies close behind. "Hey, Sherri and John, hi! Hi, hi hi!"

Fumblies dipped his head in greeting as the pair approached.

The pair seemed excited to see their friends. "Hey, Ya'll, long time no see," John said.

"Time magic. I will explain later but apparently an exploding bugbear drone had some interesting effects on Kwadlin's magic. For me that fight was just a couple days ago now." Fumblies responded with a matter of fact tone.

"Tell us more later," John said. "What's the mission?"

"Becky was saying there is a magical dome around a Ravenspook Manor that we need to get past. Though Becky probably has the best details on this," Fumblies replied with a bit of a frown.

"Spookyraven Manor!" Becky corrected, taking Fumblies and Sherri by the hand. "Follow me, guys!"

"Okay," John said.

Sherri just nodded.

Fumblies followed along with those of his command falling in line.

There is a lot going on in that one so I'm not quite sure how to comment on it.

The four go together pretty well, though. Fumblies and Becky have a long history. She was there when he debut during a live RP, although Fumblies was quite a different character early on. That's the same Fumblies that Becky runs into a little later in the same mission. And the very next Fumblies story after Fumblies had joined the Empire? A Becky Joy/ Sir Fumblies crossover. (This is basically our first look at the current version of Fumblies as well. Becky had also joined the Feline Empire. She's seen here with four Knob Goblins though it isn't stated if they're the four who go on to be her regular Knob Goblins - those being Goblina, Darson and brothers Red & Green.)

Fumblies was there soonafter when Blackeagle arrived in this dimension. They met Becky Joy soon after debuting.

We get so many different little things here from our group, from Fumblies settling in to the Ninja Village (which the voter quite liked), to Becky meeting Tomato to Fumblies reuniting with Blackeagle and Becky. Plus them puzzling over the force field and Blackeagle battling the endless clowns.

There's a lot going on in this one. I hope you enjoyed.

Speaking of the force field (as I just was), Sassy's dealing with it in the next piece.